Our modern diet provides mainly the polysaccharides saccharose,
maltose and lactose. They contain the monosaccharides glucose, fructose,
and galactose, only three of the eight monosaccharides our biochemistry
uses (Table 1).

Common Name

Polysaccharide

Formed of

and of

Sugar, Sucrose

Saccharose

Glucose

Fructose

Starch

Maltose

Glucose

Glucose

Milk Sugar

Lactose

Glucose

Galactose

Table 1: Composition of the three main polysaccharides occurring in
our diet.

Human diets have changed over time and not always for the better.
Hunter-gatherer societies ate a variety of foods including roots,
wild grains, berries, leaves and nuts. After the advent of agriculture,
people settled down to regular consumption of a more limited variety
of easy-to-grow foods, such as potatoes wheat and rice.

Archeologists tell us that the earliest hunter-gatherers people were actually taller, healthier, and had
better teeth and bone structure than the agricultural people that came later.

More recently, modern refining methods further diminished the variety of nutritional components consumed
in conventional diets. Whole wheat was replaced by refined flour, whole wild rice by polished rice and
whole potatoes by mashed potato flakes.

Most of the source for the saccharides needed by our cells were lost by these changes. Science is only
scarcely beginning to understand the consequent effect on our health.

(Bill McAnalley. The Potential Significance of Dietary Sugars in Management of Osteoarthritis and
Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Review. Proceedings of the Fisher Institute for Medical Research.
Vol.1, N°1, November 1997. 6-10)

Human biochemistry synthesizes glucose from lactate and from pyruvate. Human biochemistry is able (in perfect
health condition) to convert the two or three saccharides occurring in modern diet into seven of the eight
saccharides and saccharide derivatives it needs to assume all of its functions. Synthesis and conversion
occurs with the assistance of vitamins from the B group and with minerals, as magnesium, manganese, selenium,
iron, and zinc acting as enzyme activators.

Human biochemistry uses these eight saccharides in cell and organ
structure, in cell communication, and in immunity.

Saccharides in Cell and in Organ Structure

Saccharides participate in cell and organ structure in association with proteins. Saccharides account for 5%
of the mass of a cell membrane. The most frequent saccharide in cell and organ structure is
N-acetyl glucosamine, followed by N-acetyl galactosamine.

N-acetyl glucosamine and N-acetyl galactosamine -- absent in our diet -- have to be synthesized from the
saccharides provided in the diet. The synthesis of these two saccharides starting from glucosamine and
galactosamine -- if these saccharides are available in the diet -- is
much less expensive for our biochemistry than their synthesis from glucose.

Saccharides in Cell Communication

Cells communicate with "messages" they carry on the surface of their membrane. The
"messages" are glycoforms, molecules formed essentially of saccharides. Glycoforms protrude from
the external surface of the cell membrane. Glycoforms contain the monosaccharides mannose, N-acetyl
galactosamine, and galactose.

Saccharides in Immunity

The immunity of a cell depends on the "messages" expressed by the glycoforms on the surface of its
membrane. If in a message, words are missing or misspelled -- if some saccharide is missing in the
glycoform-- the message is erroneous with all the
consequences of it.
An error in the message disguises the real identity of the cell bearing it. An error in the message can
bring other cells "reading& it to act as if the bearer of the error was a foreign body.

Many diseases have in common the inability of certain cells to send correct messages -- to synthesize the
correct glycoforms.

This inability may result from an error in the genetic code that governs the synthesis of the
glycoforms.

The inability may also result from the absence of the needed saccharide in the diet or from a combination of
the two conditions.

The direct conversion of mannose to mannose-6-phosphate is activated
by the enzyme phosphokinase (PK).
The enzyme PMI needs zinc, the enzyme PK iron and magnesium.

It is worth mentioning that zinc deficiency occurs much more frequently
than iron or magnesium deficiency, particularly in older people.

For people with a low glucose to mannose conversion, supplementing
the diet with mannose significantly contribute to maintaining their
health.

The Consequence of a Mannose Deficiency
: The Carbohydrate Deficient Glycoprotein Syndrome

The Carbohydrate Deficient Glycoprotein Syndrome (CDGS) is an inherited
metabolic disorder with multi-systemic abnormalities resulting from
a failure to add entire N-linked oligosaccharide chains to many
glycoforms.

Children with the Carbohydrate Deficient Glycoprotein Syndrome--a
congenital recessive condition--do not synthezise sufficient mannose
from other sugars. Are you concerned about it? See the information
provided by
Hudson Freeze, Ph.D, a Senior Staff Scientist at the Burnham
Institute in La Jolla CA, USA.

Saccharides play an important role in cell and organ structure, in cell communication, and in immunity.

Our refined diet does not provide the eight saccharides our biochemistry needs. The conversion of the two or
the three saccharides occurring in the diet into the missing saccharides - although theoretically
possible -- is often not effective.

Many health-compromised situations result from this inability. It has become obvious that supplementing our
diet with the missing saccharides is helpful in maintaining and restoring health.